First Look: BlackBerry Link

BlackBerry Desktop Manager has been the staple PC app for backing up, restoring, updating and synching BlackBerry devices for years, however with BlackBerry 10 a refreshed version dubbed BlackBerry Linklooks to be taking its place. BlackBerry Link will have many of the same features of the current BlackBerry Desktop Software but has been built for the upcoming BlackBerry 10 devices (though we're assuming it will be compatible with older devices as well). With the new software, users will easily be able to sync music, videos, photos and documents as well as backup/restore device data, update device software and more. BlackBerry Link will also allow users to access files stored on a computer from their device.

BlackBerry Link will be a fresh start for the desktop software and appears to have a much more user friendly UI. With new features like drag-and-drop sync it will boast more features for BlackBerry 10 as well and hopefully work much better than the older software does now. Being a Mac user I haven't had much luck with the current desktop software as of late (and many Windows users feel the same) so BlackBerry Link will be welcome with open arms. BlackBerry Link should be timed for release with the annoucement of BlackBerry 10 devices in January.

First Look: BlackBerry Link

Research In Motion should be providing this functionality via a cloud service like their BlackBerry Protect with an option to download a copy of the backup to local storage and an option to upload a previously downloaded backup for restoration to the device. I doubt we will see a GNU/Linux version of BlackBerry Link. Heck, they could just provide a QNX VM image with a dedicated application to backup and restore content to/from the smartphone and tablet. Why can't Research In Motion's management understand "thinking outside the box?"

To store the backup file for the BlackBerry device much in the same vein as BlackBerry Desktop Software does but as a cloud service. This would ***not*** be the equivalent of Box, DropBox, SugarSync, etc.

Cloud solutions work great of you have constant, fast, reliable access to the cloud. For the majority of users who don't, it sucks.

RIM understands this and the questionable security of cloud based storage and is doing the right thing by keeping personal information stored locally, but accessible when mobile. It gives the user end to end control over their data's security.

It'd be great to see a version that's compatible with Ubuntu - the largest Linux distro - but I wouldn't hold your breath... It's pretty rare to see official Linux support for products, especially in the consumer electronics industry.

It is getting harder for those of us who don't have a secure exchange server, and who don't trust our personal information on the unsecured internet/cloud). There is still BBDM for BB7, iTunes for iOS, and MyPhoneExplorer for Android, but I know of no way to sync WP7 without a cloud server.

Being security conscious, hopefully RIM will fix this for BB10 before release.

Meh. There's this new thing called the "cloud" which allows you to sync files/media WITHOUT having to keep your computer on or connect your device.

BlackBerry just hasn't figured it out. This is what's going to sink them. I don't mean bankruptcy, but they're never going to become #3 in the marketplace without cloud. There's no way around that. Everyone else offers it except them, and the answer is NOT Dropbox/Box/Skydrive.

Way to blow it on the no-brainer. I hope I'm wrong (about them having a cloud service, not about them failing without it).

I realize ODS is beta and will not be ready until January 30, 2013, or sometime thereafter. However, Research In Motion should be promoting these services ahead of the official launch of BlackBerry 10. Failure to capture mindshare will inevitably lead to failure to capture marketshare. RIM needs to make the BlackBerry 10 ecosystem so compelling that people will delay purchasing new smartphones until the launch of BlackBerry 10 in January 2013.

Why is the answer not Box/Skydrive/Dropbox? Why is it necessary for RIM to derail their focus on BB10 to provide users with something that already exists. Most people don't care about the "cloud". Pretty much every iPhone user is used to plugging in for iTunes. If the OS has native integration with other services I don't see a problem.

No chance of becoming #3 in the market is true, that would require them to move from that position.

Supporting the more established cloud options is not a bad thing either, they need to have the framework in place for these services to be seamlessly added in a similar manner to how accounts are added to the hub.

I just really hope there is real-time cloud sync between at least PlayBook and BB10 device. AKA take a picture on your phone, view it on your PlayBook seconds later. If they could extend that to the desktop it would be even better (Though I imagine we can do this with camera roll upload from SkyDrive or DropBox as well)

Also Chris Umi's suggestion that they have a BBM client on desktop would be fantastic as well.

I've always sent feedback about this for the previous & current versions. I'm not sure how BB10 will handle this or if its needed at all for the infrastructure, but it is surely a great missing feature for the current version of DM. The workaround currently used is a bit archaic, IMO.

Speaking only as a BB owner who has only ever had a BB on BIS I am not sure why we need this legacy software any more? If there are BES uses for it I admit to ignorance of that but for us who will get a BB10 phone on what is BIS now - if calendar, contacts and tasks will be handled by active sync, (the main reason I use DM now), why do I still need this? The other majors are moving the other functions off of computers into the cloud. Why do I need to be tethered to a desktop any longer?

I hope the Music tab has full song and playlist management capabilities. As well I hope we finally get to see BlackBerry App World through Link and maybe even a DLNA section to manage PlayOn features for devices on the same network..

From the last screen shot it looks like Link only supports playbook and BB10, which is a shame, as support for older devices would give then an ideal way for users to transfer data across between devices.

Do you suppose it could restore a 3.3 GB PlayBook backup in under an hour? I just had to reset the PB on the advice of RIM support, but I've never experienced sync/backup software/machine so slow in my LIFE!

Remote access to my computer ... good. I can't imgagine RIM not understanding it is CRITICAL to be able to sync the PB to Outlook, so even tho it is basic and should have been done ages ago I look forward to it. I am just trying my best to have faith that it will happen.

I see the reasons against cloud sync, but how about Wi-Fi or bluetooth sync? There needs to be no cables involved, and if my phone and pc sync as soon as they are on the same network, that's as good as it gets for me! Local storage + wireless connectivity.

I see why some people prefer the convenience of syncing via the cloud, but when security is important, some people need another option.

I don't care if the connection is over USB, WiFi, BlueTooth, NFC, IR, or Morse code! The point is that I need to be able to sync my personal data (including documents, contacts, calendars, tasks, and notes) between my smartphone and my computer *without* exposing it to an unsecured internet connection or an unencrypted cloud server. Being able to do it without an internet connection is also a bonus.

This is currently possible with BB7, iOS, and Android (via 3rd party apps), but not WP7. Frankly, I'll be surprised if RIM doesn't allow an option in BB10 for its security-conscious customers.

Hopefully the synchronization is folder-based and not software-based... The current version of BlackBerry Desktop Manager insists that users synchronize the multimedia via Windows Media Player or iTunes - I use Media Go, which is far better than either.

It is amazing how dense BlackBerry has become. I get the feeling that whoever is running things has made a conscious effort to alienate all serious users. First they remove the ability to to sync with Outlook; then they promise that they are working on a fix (which was a lie.) Then they tell us all we have to do is sign up for a different email account with Live Mail (or join Outlook .com.)

So - in order to just do what I have been doing, for the past 8 years, I must pay a third party vendor $50.00 because BlackBerry engineers are incapable (or unwilling) to do it.

Tomorrow will be the first day that I can get the Z10 at the discounted price. If I am going to have to completely change how I am doing things, it might be better to just change, now, to an iPhone or Android. Until now, I have not thought seriously about changing, because I really like the way Desktop Manager works.

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